Chapter 2. At All Costs.

Alfred whistled as he walked through town, swinging his bag of food for him and his brother in his hand. Everyone he passed by smiled and talked to him, even for just a second. A few people were still congratulating him on his magic set up during the festival and Alfred just laughed, said thanks, and went on his way. As usual, there were the girls that tried to pull him off his usual trail, but he was able to move past them easily. He'd gotten so used to it all.

"Hey, Al, have you heard?" one person asked him. Alfred was pretty sure his name was Jake, but it was hard to keep track of everyone's names in this town. "Those weirdos in that hut near the edge of the wall got up to something again."

"Yeah?" Alfred laughed. "Did Lord Braginski send his usual guards after them again?" It was usually just a rumor, these three guys in a hut right up against the wall, in the middle of the small forest they had. No one really went over to check if the story was true, but new rumors about them would pop up every now and then.

"I heard they tried to climb the wall," another person, Kevin, chimed in the conversation. "They didn't get anywhere near as far as you."

"No one could get as far as Alfred has," Jake laughed.

"Are you still trying to get past your record?" a girl asked as she came up to him. Hannah was her name. She was one of the more clingy ones and Alfred walked a little faster.

"Yeah, I've got this new plan," Alfred smirked. "Just wait 'till you see it, it's definitely gonna work!"

Hannah opened her mouth to talk again, but she was cut off. Someone rushed through the small crowd in front of them, but he had just shown himself. It was Matthew, Alfred's brother, who looked breathless as he quickly approached them. Alfred was surprised, to say the least. Matthew usually never got out of his shell enough to talk to people, let alone shove them out of his way.

"What the hell did you do?" Matthew demanded and Alfred raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, what?" Alfred asked.

"You didn't do anything today?" Matthew gave an exasperated sigh as he panted, regaining his composure.

"No, my plan was actually gonna be in a few days," Alfred shrugged. "What's got you so worried?"

"Guards just came by our house," Matthew muttered. "They…ransacked it looking for you! Lord Braginski has all of his guards searching for you!"

"What the hell?" Alfred snapped. "What does that bastard want with me?" He'd never actually seen Lord Braginski in person, but their parents had talked about him a lot. He was pompous, most likely really old at this point, and he supported that stupid wall. Honestly, if Alfred ever saw him, he'd quite like to punch him right in the face. But at this point it was more important to find out what the man wanted with him.

"I don't know, but we need to hide you before he finds you," Matthew pressed.

"Yeah," Alfred nodded, handing his bag to Jake and taking off, his brother close behind him. There were a few hiding places they had around, for when Alfred got in trouble for climbing the wall, and he knew which was the closest. Matthew was already starting to lag behind and Alfred sighed, holding tightly onto his brother's wrist. "Hurry up, bro, I don't got all day."

"I already ran around town looking for you!" Matthew snapped as he followed his brother, pushing past people and buildings as they ran. Alfred looked around constantly for the guards. Lord Braginski wanted him? Why? It didn't make sense. He hadn't even done anything wrong in weeks.

And then Alfred turned and nearly ran right into a cluster of guards. He scrambled to turn around, nearly running over Matthew in the process, and flicked his hand back at them. A shimmer of magic flowed through the air and the men were practically flung onto their backs a few yards away. Next hiding spot, then. It wasn't too far away. They could make it.

Alfred scrambled to a stop when he saw guards walk right in their way and quickly took a turn. Matthew was getting a lot slower and Alfred gritted his teeth. Maybe he could make a hiding spot somewhere. He looked around and he could see a few shops, but nothing that the guards weren't willing to go through. Why did they want him? With a wave of his hand, he used magic to topple a few boxes over in front of the guards following them and took another sharp turn.

"Matt," Alfred stopped them both in a small alley and looked around. No sign of guards. "Go on your own to a hiding place, I'll lead 'em away and meet you there."

"You're not doing something that risky," Matthew shook his head.

"You're already slowing me down, I'll be faster on my own," Alfred pressed. "There's no time to worry about this. You know me, I'll be fine." Alfred grinned before running out of the alley just in time for the guards to clear the boxes. He pushed through the people, who squealed and screamed as Alfred pushed through. He carefully stooped down as he ran and dragged his hand against the stones, creating a path of ice behind him that caused the guards to tumble down, clattering with their metal armor.

Alfred smirked and stopped when he saw another group of guards that had a mage with them. Alfred quickly assessed the amount of magic he could see from the man's aura and smiled. He could take him, that'd be easy. Alfred simply blew a puff of air and, as the magic shimmered, the group in front of him was blown away and he ran again. He was going to lead them on a wild goose chase and then he'd meet up with his brother at one of their hide-outs. He knew how to cloak himself with magic once he was clear of suspicion. He had to distract them well at first.

Before long, Alfred had made it to another square, but he wasn't even sure anymore if it was the same one he had been in a moment before. He slid to a stop when he saw guards taking up the area he would have used to escape. They had a mage, too. Alfred cursed under his breath. The mage already cast a spell in his direction. Their magic didn't look as good as his own. But Alfred felt the spell and it was fairly strong. They were trying to knock him out.

"It'll take more than one little mage to take me out," Alfred smirked, already preparing a fire spell in his hand. And then he was hit in the back by another spell that heavily weighed on his mind. Alfred gritted his teeth, glancing behind himself. Another three mages with guards around them. Alfred glanced around, there was no one aside from people from the castle were in the square, perfect.

He quickly slammed his hand onto the ground and a wave of fire spread around him. The spells weighing on him didn't go away. He glanced around. There were more mages, he had no idea where they had come from. They had blocked for the other mages before sending more magic his way, weighing him down. He couldn't even count how many anymore, but he could see the thick air of magic around him. He turned to an open exit and ran as fast as he could, but he had already slowed down significantly. He quickly ran into another group of mages and they sent even more magic at him. He was nearly blinded by the spells around him, but he kept moving, albeit sluggishly.

A few more hit him from behind and he stumbled to his hands and knees, groaning slightly. But he refused to give up, he promised his brother he'd find him. He just needed to get out of range, he could do that easily. He started to crawl, slowly creating a spell in his head, but four more mages stood in front of him, sending magic right at him and his arms fell beneath him. His eyelids threatened to close, but he refused to allow it. He couldn't even bring himself to move anything. The magic around him was suffocating. Why the hell did they want him so bad? What had he even done wrong?

"We need one more!" a mage called out and Alfred was hit once more from behind and his eyes finally closed, engulfing him in darkness.


"You have him in your custody now, kill him while you have the chance," General Winter said. Ivan simply said nothing. He stared at his desk in his study as he had for the past hour. He'd been told that Alfred was in their custody, thanks to 26 mages. 26. It took 26 mages to take down one man. He knew that Alfred must have had a lot of power, considering all he was able to accomplish on his own, but he never expected that much. All of the mages had considerable magic power and studied nearly constantly, and Alfred had bested 25 of them at once.

After Alfred had left him agains during the festival, Ivan was hell bent on finding out more about the man. He couldn't explain it, he was just…taken with him. That was the best way to describe it, Ivan figured. General Winter was far from pleased. And now, Ivan was sitting in his room. at his desk, attempting to make sense of his emotions to figure out what to do next. He hadn't been in charge of this town for very long and he had just done a risky move. He had deployed all of his men to find Alfred Jones, but General Winter was completely for that move, oddly enough. General Winter wanted this man dead at all costs.

"Why do you wish him dead?" Ivan asked.

"You don't need to understand before you do as I say," General Winter said coldly. "I have been the trusted advisor to your family for four hundred years, do as I say without question, I know what is best for this town."

"I do not accept that," Ivan shook his head. "Explain yourself to me and I will consider my next action accordingly."

"Do not fight against me," General Winter warned.

"Or what? You will freeze me?" Ivan snapped. He was tired of this voice nagging at him in the back of his head, but he was forced to. The stupid family heirloom that held a spirit, doomed to never escape for whatever reason. He did not get along well with the spirit, even as the object he was held in was on the other side of the room. It was a simple metal pipe. It was something the manor used for a water system, though none of the townspeople appeared to be able to use it. It required magic to be able to work properly.

"I can be a reasonable man," General Winter sighed. "I have seen the magic in this man and I know it. This is not something you should play with. Kill that man as soon as you have the chance. Do not offer any kind of sympathy to him, despite your feelings towards him. I will tell you what you need to know in due time."

"Then I will do what you want in due time," Ivan sighed, shaking his head. No one disturbed him while he was in his room, usually. No one said anything about the fact that he was seemingly talking to himself. Only the lord of the manor knew this secret, not even Ivan's sisters could know. Not even Alfred could know.

"This is not up for negotiation, Ivan," General Winter practically spat his name and Ivan narrowed his eyes at the object. "You will do as I say for the good of the town and the good of the wall that is protecting it."

That was one of the few secrets Ivan was allowed to know. It was the one he wished he didn't know. He wished he could be like the rest of the town, oblivious to how dangerous the real world is. "Prove to me that it is necessary I kill him."

"You know of what lies in the secret dungeon," General Winter said simply. Ah, yes, that. Ivan nodded slowly. Another secret. He didn't know all of it, but there was something incredibly dangerous in the hidden dungeon, something that could easily destroy the entire town if it were let loose.

"What tie does Alfred have to that thing?" Ivan asked.

"They are one and the same," General Winter said. "The magic is familiar. Though you may not be able to see it, I can. Clearly. They are the same and your Alfred must be destroyed before he is allowed to do anything like that thing in the dungeon. How old did you find out he was during your investigation?"

"He is twenty five," Ivan said simply. He did not see how this was important.

"Then it is around time anyway," General Winter muttered.

"I will not kill him," Ivan said. "And I will not allow you to kill him. Until I have good reason."

"Believe me, you do not want that Trickster alive for much longer. There is incredibly good reason."

"I look forward to the day when I'm told this reason," Ivan hummed simply.


Hehehe, yay! Chapter 2! I still can't contain my excitement with all of these secrets. The only one that knows all of them really is General Winter, and another character I vaguely mentioned earlier. I've touched on quite a lot here, but there's still so much and I can hardly control my excitement!

Anyway, look forward to the next chapter! We'll get to see Ivan's sisters! Please review!